07/21/2026
In accordance with Massachusetts General Laws (MGL), the Town must put forth to Town Meeting the full Regional District Assessment as voted by the School District. This occurred at the Annual Town Meeting on June 8, 2026, whereby Town Meeting voted to provide an assessment of $17,995,994. The full assessment request was $19,349,278. As a result, the budget passed served as an overall rejection of the District's budget. School Committee then had a chance to revise their budget, which meant they could have accepted the revised assessment, submit the same original assessment, or a combination of the two. School Committee chose to submit the original assessment of $19,349,278. MGL states this full amount must again go to Town Meeting for consideration. It is important to note that the Town must present the full assessment request on the Town Meeting warrant for action. There are options for how this occurs, whether through deep cuts to the Town budget, use of one-time funds, or through another override. Not pursuing any of these actions means that the full assessment becomes accepted after 45 days and then the Town would need to come up with the difference, $1,353,284, out of the three options.
The Select Board chose to place the use of one-time funds as the option at Town Meeting, although it has not taken a formal stance to support/not support. This is expected to occur on July 21 at 6:00 pm during Warrant Review. Documents with more information and that will be discussed at Warrant Review can be found at the following links:
Special Town Meeting Warrant:
https://www.lakevillema.org/DocumentCenter/View/5799/072726-stm-signed-warrant?bidId=
Presentation: https://www.lakevillema.org/DocumentCenter/View/5902
3 Year Forecast: https://www.lakevillema.org/DocumentCenter/View/5905/3-Year-Forecast---Use-of-Stabilization?bidId=
Financial Policies: https://www.lakevillema.org/DocumentCenter/View/5903/Financial-Management-Policies?bidId=
Financial Advisor Letter: https://www.lakevillema.org/DocumentCenter/View/5904/Financial-Advisor-Letter?bidId=
If Town Meeting were to reject this budget request again, there could be a joint Town Meeting, whereby Freetown and Lakeville residents would meet to vote on the assessment.
